Pneumatic cushion



Nov. 23, 1937. H. c. STANLEY ET AL 2,099,870

PNEUMATIC CUSHION Filed Nov. 22, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PNEUMATIC CUSHION Henry Connah Stanley and William Henry Smith, Manchester, England Application November 22, 1934, Serial No. 754,202

In Great Britain November 28, 1933 '1 Claims. (Cl. 155-179) This invention relates to pneumatic bags or compartment, including the knife edge 0, or narcushions and more particularly to pneumatic bags row gusset, together form a gusset or wall for the or cushions for upholstery of car seats and the inner or second air compartment and act as a conlike. trol reed for the shape of the whole cushion.

It has recently become the practice to con- In another example of the invention, as shown struct such pneumatic cushions with two or more in Fig. 3, for a wide or double seat cushion, the compartments which may be separately inflated, outer tubular ring a is made with a transverse one of which forms a surround for the other or centre limb or tube a defining two separate inner others. or second air compartments and f Alter- The present invention is based upon an apprenatively, as shown in Fig. 4, two separate inner or ciation of the fact that, with an improved and second air compartments f and f are provided simplified construction of cushion the inner wall surrounded by the one outer tubular ring a and of the surrounding compartment can be the sole, with their inner and adjacent sides or edges suitor at least, the principal, control element for ably sealed over and connected together by conmaintaining the shape of the cushion and reducnecting strips h. 15 ing roll. As shown in Fig. 5, the cushion is constructed According to the invention a. pneumatic cushion with three inner or second air compartments, f, f comprises an outer tubular ring of material imand F, the sides of the inner compartment i being pervious to air and sheets of similar material, of a made with knife edges or gussets f and the adshape corresponding to the space defined by said jacent edges of the compartments f and I being 20 tubular ring but larger than said defined space, attached to the face of the compartment f so that said sheets having outer marginal edges secured part of its faces, including the knife edges, forms to the said outer tubular ring to form a second air a gusset or wall as in the preceding examples. compartment inwardly of said outer ring and with In yet another example of the invention, as will the said outer marginal edges overlying the be seen from the plan in Fig. 6 the line of attach- 25 said outer tubular ring and lying outside of said ment of the edges of the sheets forming the inner second air compartment and so that part of said or second compartment is substantially on the outer ring forms a wall of the said second air centre-line (in the plan) of the top wall of the compartment. outer compartment. The button wall is similarly Further tie members may be provided between attached. The effect of taking the line of at- 30 the top and bottom walls of the inner comparttachment further back from the inner edge of the ments, that is to say, in addition to the tie memouter cushion is to give a more level surfaced her which is formed by the enclosed walls of said cushion. The line of attachment of the sheets outer ring. forming the top and bottom walls of the inner In the accompanying drawing: compartment to the outer compartment will be 35 Fig. 1 is a central sectional view of one exchosen according to the desired ultimate flat or ample of pneumatic cushion made in accordance undulating shape of the cushion. Where the with the invention. gusset provided by this construction is relatively Fig. 2 is a plan of Fig. 1 to smaller scale. narrow and the line of attachment is taken nearer Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are further examples of pneuthe inner edge of the outer compartment it has 40 matic cushions made in accordance with the inthe effect of drawing down the outline of the invention. ner compartment when the cushion is inflated.

In the preferred form of the invention, as shown This method of attachment of the said sheets in Figs. 1 and 2, the cushion is made with the may be adopted in any of the examples above outer tubular ring a. formed with the usual gusset described and in the case of the wide or double b on the outside but with a knife edge a on its seat cushion, where there is a transverse limb, inner side. Instead of a knife edge a gusset may the sheets forming the top and bottom walls of be provided. In all cases the sheets forming the the two inner compartments may be continuous top and bottom walls d and e of the inner or secand extend across the limb without a joint, while 0nd air compartment 1 overlie and are attached being positively attached thereto. 50 to the outer tubular ring on a line g about of an It has also been appreciated that, owing to the inch more or less from'the knife edge 0 so that high degree of control obtainable by the dividing when the cushion is inflated such portion of the wall between the two compartments when conouter tubular ring between the overlying parts of structed according to the invention, the said wall attachment of the sheets of the inner or-second air may be formed with one or more holes a (see Fig. 55

6) say inch diameter, thus converting the cushion for single inflation for all the compartments. Such a cushion would be particularly suitable for a "squab cushion, i. e., for the seat back upholstery. The inner compartment by its size, giving a soft feel while the outside compartment, though at the same air pressure, giving a harder feel with the required control of the whole. The advantage of such cushion would be that it would keep the upholstery in very good shape as some of the air would return to the centre compartment when the pressure of the user's back is released from it and would be driven back to the outer ring to provide the required control as soon as the user leans back against it.

In addition to the control provided by the gusset as above described, there may be provided one or more control reeds, tubes or studs k as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, of any known shape and arrangement in the inner or outer compartment, or in both, where further shaping or control of the shape of the cushion is required. Where such additional control is not provided the absence of the usual tie members from the inner compartment makes not only for greater comfort and better shape of the cushion, but allows the gussetlike separating walls of the outer ring to provide the sole control within the cushion itself.

It is further to be understood that the invention while primarily evolved for upholstery for car seats and the like, has other applications, as for example, for pneumatic mattresses and other uses wherein there is not the same Surrounding supporting structure or framework, as the improved construction cf cushion does provide a degree of control with low air pressure in the inner compartment which has hitherto been unobtainable.

What we claim, is:

1. A pneumatic cushion comprising an outer tubular ring of material impervious to air, and sheets of similar material of a shape corresponding to the space defined by said tubular ring but larger than said defined space, said sheets having outer marginal edges secured to the said outer tubular ring to form a second air compartment inwardly. of said outer ring and with the said outer marginal edges overlying the said outer tubular ring and outside of said second air compartment and so that part of said outer ring forms a wall of the said second air compartment.

2. A pneumatic cushion comprising an outer tubular ring of material impervious to air and sheets of similar material having inner and outer marginal edges, said sheets being of a shape corresponding to the space defined by said tubular ring but larger than said defined space, said sheets being secured together along their inner marginal edges and having their outer marginal edges secured to the said outer tubular ring to form a second air. compartment inwardly of said outer ring, and with the said outer marginal edges overlying the said outer tubular ring and outside of said second air compartment.

3. A pneumatic cushion according to claim 1, characterized by tie members between the sheets forming the second air compartment;

4. A pneumatic cushion according to claim 1, characterized in that the outer tubular ring having at least one perforation providing communication between the interior of said outer ring and the interior of the said second compartment for simultaneous inflation of the latter from the former.

5. A pneumatic cushion comprising an outer tubular ring of material impervious to air apd sheets. of similar material of a shape corresponding to the space defined by said tubular ring but larger than said defined space, said sheets having outer marginal edges secured to the said outer tubular ring to form a second air compartment inwardly of said outer ring and with the said outer marginal edges overlying the said outer tubular ring, and outside of said second air compartment and so that part of said outer ring forms a wall of the said second air compartment which is narrow relative to the expanded thickness of the said outer ring.

6. A pneumatic cushion comprising an outer tubular ring of material impervious to air and sheets of similar material of a shape corresponding to the space defined by said tubular ring but larger than said defined space, said sheets having outer marginal edges secured to the said outer tubular ring to form a second air compartment inwardly of said outer ring and with the said outer marginal edges overlying the said outer tubular ring, and outside of said second air compartment and so that part of said outer ring forms a wall of the said second air compartment which is wide relative to the expanded thickness of the said outer ring.

7. A pneumatic cushion comprising an outer tubular ring of material impervious to air and sheets of similar material, of a shape corresponding to the space defined by said tubular ring but larger than said defined space, said sheets having outer marginal edges secured to the said outer tubular ring to form a second air compartment inwardly of said outer ring and with the said outer marginal edges overlying the said outer tubular ring, and outside of said second air compartment and so that part of said outer ring forms a wall of the said second air compartment, which part includes a knife-edge joint, the edges of which extend into the said second compartment.

HENRY CON'NAH STANLEY. WILLIAM HENRY SMITH. 

